AGILE Workshop

What is AGILE?

The AGILE approach is a way to develop new online study materials rapidly. It makes several assumptions:

1. It is better to field test materials early to find out what will actually work with students, then refine them based on students’ feedback.
2. Materials can be improved over several iterations.
3. Development of materials is a collaborative activity.
4. AGILE replaces the ADDIE approach: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. ADDIE assumes that materials will be good if one does good research and planning so it has two main weaknesses:
1. It takes developers a long time (too long) to carefully research, develop and perfect materials.
2. When the materials are at an advanced stage of development, developers could find that the materials don’t actually work with students because they made basic but unforeseeable errors.

 

Workshop planning

By the end of this one-day workshop, we should have a good first draft of materials that are good enough to test with real students. They won’t be perfect, but good enough to test without offending students. The materials will comprise:

• a unit outline with sequenced lessons and lesson outlines,
• learning activities,
• basic resources, and
• assessments.

What we need

1. A room with good internet access
2. Desks, chairs, electricity points, toilets.
3. Drinking water, tea, and coffee.
4. All degrees have already been written with:
   1. A purpose statement
   2. A list of units, with a draft purpose statement for each one
   3. Draft unit competencies.
5. A range of examples for each (or most) to show workshop participants the kinds of things that can be expected.
6. Lists of websites of open source materials

Participant preparation before attending

1. Purpose and overview of workshop
2. Read article "What is AGILE?"
3. Read article on sequencing
4. Bring laptop with a word processor
5. Copyright arrangements
6. Lunch arrangements
7. Look at website of degree definitions and competencies
8. Look at templates (see appendix)
9. Purpose and core outcome of the degree or qualification as given in the catalog.
10. Brief job description that describes the role graduates of this degree will be trained for.
    1. Generic job title, list of core responsibilities.
11. Its educational characteristics (Cf. degree levels, professional, academic, research) Many higher professional degrees require students to interpret a context, devise a suitable response, and implement it.

One-day schedule

Session 1: 9.00 a.m. –10.30 a.m.
Session 2: 10.45 a.m. – 12.15 p.m.
Session 3: 1.00 p.m. – 2.45 p.m.
Session 4: 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m.

 

Session 1a: Introduction

1. Welcome
   1. Tea/coffee/toilets
   2. Lunch arrangements
2. Briefing
   1. Goals for today
   2. Show people a finished product of a segment, starting at the introduction of a new point to formative assessment (a.k.a. a series of frames)
   3. Recap pre-reading
3. Divide into groups of four people in subject matter groups.
   1. You need to be able to talk about your subject matter.
   2. Each participant should their own notes on his/her laptop
   3. Choose a group leader
4. Group leader ensures rules of discussion:
   1. Check each other’s work as you go.
   2. Be constructive and nice.
   3. Everyone has a right to a say and explain their view.
   4. Others can ask questions.
   5. Be brief and keep to strict time limits. Leaders can close down long-winded discussion and digressions and refer any important points.
5. Write it down. It’s only done if written down. If it’s not written down, it’s not done, no matter how good your discussion was.
6. Copyright clearance: Everything created is either owned by the school or given unrestricted license to the school.
7. If students need specialized software, name open-source free software and the download website.

Session 1b: The whole qualification

1. Review:
   1. Purpose and core outcome of the degree or qualification.
   2. Job description graduates are trained for.
   3. Degree’s educational characteristics
2. What units will we actually offer to the first cohort?
   1. We need to define core business and do nothing else the first time through. This means that we will not offer any free-choice electives.
3. Describe the characteristics of students. (See appendix 1.) For example, at this level, what are reasonable expectations of:
   1. language?
   2. ability to study unsupervised without getting discouraged and dropping out?
   3. internet access?
   4. ability to read technical literature?
   5. technical writing?
   6. learning from previous course and professional skills?
4. Choose a template
1. For example, one subject in my undergraduate Curtin program comprised:
   1. One lecture and one tutorial each week
   2. Lots of reading
   3. Two essays
   4. Two exams: Mid-semester and end of semester
2. How many semester hours? What is the total amount of work?
3. What to do (e.g. one or two online learning activities per week)
4. Look at website of templates:
5. Each participant selects at least one unit that they like and in which they have expertise.
   1. You may instead select a series of interrelated units and compile them into a major project. (E.g. my Grad Dip, OrgReview.)
6. Group: Check that there are no redundancies.
7. Go to the competencies website, read the existing competency statement, and revise it as necessary.
   1. Is the purpose of the unit clear and meaningful?
   2. Does it state clearly what the student must be able to do at the end of the unit?
   3. Are the contents clear, accurate, and helpful?
8. Check for parallel or equivalent units at http://opencourselibrary.org/course/
   1. Compare them with the ACAS unit and consider any revisions to the ACAS unit and check for useful open-source materials.
9. Write the final assessment task(s).
   1. It should demonstrate that the student has achieved the purpose of the unit and acquired the competencies. It needs to be something observable so the tutor can know whether or not students have achieved it.
   2. At the end of this unit, you will be able to…
10. Check the validity of the final assessment task(s)
    1. Does it address the unit purpose?
    2. Does it contain a suitable kind of thinking? (It’s easy to expect expertise or critical thinking, but to assess only memorized information.)
    3. Can It be demonstrated online? Or can it only be demonstrated in practicum?
11. As a Subject Matter Expert, why do you think this unit is necessary?
12. What will motivate students?
    1. Why should students think that this unit is necessary?
    2. What will motivate students to take this course and maintain motivation?
    3. How can you appeal to intrinsic motivations?
    4. What will keep students engaged?

 

Session 2: Lessons

1. Divide the unit into 14 lessons and write a topic statement for each lesson. Aim for about 6-10 words for each topic statement.
   1. A US semester is 15 weeks.
   2. The last week will be assessment.
   3. You might want to split the unit into two short courses.
2. Write a goal for each lesson as: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to … It needs to be observable so the tutor can know whether or not students have achieved it.
3. Put lessons in a sequence so that students will understand the unit easily.
4. Check the sequencing:
   1. Are sequences creative enough to maintain student interest and engagement?
   2. Will students be able to learn by following those sequences?
   3. Will other tutors be able to teach by following those sequences?

Introduction section of lesson 1

Some tutors suggest that it is good practice to personally introduce yourself to students in the week before the semester starts.

1. Welcome people in and check that everybody is there.
2. If students don't know each other, you might have an icebreaker.
3. Introduce yourself and get each student to introduce themselves briefly to the group.
4. Brief students on any house rules (e.g. location of toilets, evacuation procedure, incident or hazard reporting, admin, how to submit assignments).
5. Discuss and clarify expectations. ("What do you want to get out of this course?")
6. Give out a written unit description, which should include assessment requirements. Go through the main points.
7. Explain it and discuss it with students:
   1. program goals and what students need to learn
   2. an overview of the particular unit
   3. assessment
   4. any particular activities (field trips, guest speakers, etc.)
   5. how the program works, or your reasons for presenting it the way you do.
   6. any other staff who will play a role (e.g. relating to admin).
8. Give students opportunity to ask any questions.
9. Answer questions and confirm that they understand.

 

Session 3: Lessons ctd.

1. Make a list of points to make in each lesson (Chunking).
2. Looks at examples of the kinds of possible learning activities for each point. E.g. discussion questions, analysis of readings, comparisons of readings, scenarios and dilemmas (What would you do?).
1. What could you do to make activities even more engaging that these examples?
2. What kinds of activities can scale up without need lots of individualized tutor support? E.g.
   1. socially based, such as discussions, joint problem solving
   2. automated (e.g. multiple choice)
   3. Papers might work
   4. Least favored: Individual video submissions (They take forever to watch.)
3. In groups, brainstorm learning activities for each lesson. Be creative:
   1. Produce more ideas than you will need.
   2. Write down all your ideas.
   3. Don’t’ spend time evaluating them at this stage.
4. Which ideas are best? "Best" means:
   1. Most effective for teaching the point.
   2. Learning is still central; students can’t navigate around it and make the activity into just a game.
   3. Engaging.
   4. Will work equally well for all students.
   5. Work online
   6. Scale up easily
5. Fill them out and make them clear enough for someone else to read. (Or for you to read if you have forgotten what you wrote.)
6. If you haven’t already, put the lesson contents in a sequence.
   1. Will students be able to learn by following that sequence?
   2. Will other tutors be able to teach by following that sequence?

 

Session 4: Resources

1. Select resources
1. Select and download wiki commons materials and Wikipedia articles.
2. Go to other open-course websites

Notes:

• Wikipedia articles must be downloaded in odt format to be useful.
• Some Wikipedia articles are very long and you might select only some useful sections. E.g. an overview of the topic will include overviews of ideas and main people. But you might delete those sections and use the main articles in those ideas and people.
• Information in Wikipedia articles is usually very good, but can be unreliable. Check the facts. If you did a fact-check, write it in the notes.
• Identify the source. Website, date viewed.

Hand it in

1. For any soft-copy materials, put them in one folder, make it a zip file, and email it to the moderator.
2. For any hardcopy materials, hand it in with your name at the top.
3. For any hand-drawn diagrams, label them clearly, take a photo with your phone, and email them to the moderator

Do you want a Wiki to make any subsequent improvements?

 

Educational characteristics of Master degree students upon admission

1. Presumed to be proficient in Bachelor-level professional skills
2. Exercise an introductory level of independent critical thought
3. Familiar with context where Master-level professional skills are exercised
4. Can read and interpret journal articles of original research
5. Can find journal articles on a specific topic
6. Can write essays of several thousand words with good English, argumentation, and formatting.
7. Can discuss topics online and create a collegial atmosphere (good netiquette)
8. Has limited ability to study unsupervised. (Even highly motivated students can easily become discouraged and drop out if they feel isolated.)
9. They will have good internet access, and log on at least twice a week.

 

Educational characteristics of professional graduate degree programs

Most professional higher degrees require students to be able to:

1. Interpret a complex context, devise a suitable response, and implement it.
2. Research professional practices
3. Express their learning in academic forms
4. Compare models and evaluate principles to create solutions. (Learning is too complex to reduce to procedures.)

 

Subject templates

On-line general academic unit: A

1. Half-hour weekly group chat or videoconference throughout the semester.
2. Reading projects resulting in three book reports of 500 words each. The readings are mostly set and the total pages are based on a presumed reading speed of about 20 pages per hour.
3. Two hours weekly participation in a wiki, a forum (asynchronous), and/or online chat group (synchronous)
4. Items of written work:
   1. Undergraduate: Two items of 2,000 words each.
   2. Master: Two items of 3,000 words each.
   3. Doctoral: Two items of 5,000 words each.
5. Two hours of scheduled "office hours"; the tutor is available to answer questions online.
6. A group project.
7. An online test.

On-line general academic unit: B

1. A weekly MOOC lesson, which might include a pre-recorded lecture
2. Face-to-face intensive
3. A weekly set reading task
4. A weekly quiz based on the reading
5. A weekly online tutorial (chat, forum, videoconference, etc.)
6. Items of written work:
1. Undergraduate: Two items of 2,000 words each.
2. Master: Two items of 3,000 words each.
3. Doctoral: Two items of 5,000 words each.
7. Two hours of scheduled "office hours"; the tutor is available to answer questions online.
8. Last week: final assessment.

Fully on-line unit C

1. A weekly MOOC lesson, which might include a pre-recorded lecture
2. A weekly set reading task
3. A weekly quiz based on the reading
4. A weekly online tutorial (chat, forum, videoconference, etc.)
5. Two essays of 1,500 words for the semester.

 

Session 1c: The unit

Look at the materials from Africa Virtual University.

What do you think are their strengths and weaknesss? What kinds of changes would you suggest? They could be improvements or adaptations to your centext.

 

For Moodle

Preparing lessons for Moodle immediately suggests several basic pointers:

1. Usually one lesson each week.
2. Use simple, clear language, because students studying alone can give up easily if they are confused.
3. If you introduce specialist terminology, give simple, clear explanations early.
4. In the name of any item, say what kind it is, e.g. reading, assignment, chat. It will show as the link on the main page and help students to know what is, because students probably won't remember the meanings of the icons.
5. At the front of each lesson, use a label to give a succinct purpose statement.
6. In each lesson, give students a way to ask for help easily.
7. Every time you give an item of information, give an activity so that students respond to it.
8. Whenever you give an assignment, say how many words you expect and when it needs to be handed in.
9. Whatever word processor you use, put it into Word and then put it into clean html. (Pages look better in good html, which can be uploaded through the special link.)
10. Edit and proofread carefully, and put it into a unified style and voice.

 

Title

Content 13

 

Title

Content 14

 

Title

Content 15

 

Title

Content 16

 

Title

Content 17

 

Title

Content 18

 

Title

Content 19

 

Title

Content 20